Cheap Solar Panels Being Dumped in Canada, Watchdog says.

Canadaâ€™s border watchdog has confirmed its ruling that cheap subsidized solar panels are being dumped into Canada.

In its final decision released Wednesday, the Canada Border Services Agency said it has determined that the PV modules and laminates from China have been subsidized by the Chinese government and sold in Canada at cut-rate prices. Last March, when the agency issued its preliminary ruling, it imposed stiff provisional import duties to protect Canadian manufacturers of solar panels ranging from 9 to 286 percent.

Although a final ruling in the case rests with another government body â€“ the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, those provisional duties will remain in place.

CITT will have to determine specifically how much damage has been done to Canadaâ€™s domestic panel makers. It is conducting hearings into the matter, and after the full inquiry is complete it will make a final, detailed ruling on the matter and what should be done about it.

The government bodies waded in the solar-dumping issue after 4 Ontario-based solar-panel makers complained they were being hurt by competition from cheap Chinese imports.

The panel manufacturers â€“ Eclipsall Manufacturing Corp., Heliene Inc., Silfab Solar Inc. and Solgate Inc. said unfair competition was cutting into their sales and market share, and putting them under pressure to slash their prices.

Some participants in the solar industry said that import duties will boost the price of panels and depress demand, which could dent enthusiasm for solar power and slow the shift to renewable energy in the country.